Patients who delay in obtaining a cancer consultation for at least two months have significantly higher relative hazards of death than do patients with a shorter delay. (See Cancer, 92[11]:2885-2891, 2001). Thus, if patients are more regularly subjected cancer screening, coupled with a definitive procedure for making an early prognosis or diagnosis, the mortality rate risks of cancer would be reduced.
Accordingly, I provide prognostic and diagnostic methods for early prediction of eventual development of invasive cancer or for definitive diagnosis, which are stepwise, rapid, conclusive, and readily adaptable as a clinical protocol.
Development of Pre-Cancerous & Cancerous Tissue:
The development of tumors requires two separate mutational events. One of these events may occur in the germline and be inherited. The second then occurs somatically. Alternatively, the two mutational events may occur only in the somatic cell of an individual.